100 kids in Bacolod school poisoned

BACOLOD CITY—At least 100 students from an elementary school here had been rushed to hospitals on Thursday and Friday after showing symptoms of food poisoning.

The students of Handumanan Elementary School 1 (HES), with ages ranging from 10-12 years old, were first believed to have fallen ill after either drinking dirty water or eating contaminated food.

Results of tests made at private hospitals where the children were brought showed that the students were stricken by cholera and amoebiasis, diseases often associated with dirty water or food.

Ma. Febe Legaspi, village chief of Handumanan, said the stream of students being brought to hospitals started on Oct. 13.

Trigger

Authorities are still investigating what the students ate or drank that triggered the poisoning.

On Friday, 104 patients had been rushed mostly to the Corazon Locsin Memorial Regional Hospital and a few to Our Lady of Mercy Specialty Hospital and the Doctors Hospital, Legaspi said.

They complained of stomach ache, were vomiting and suffering from loose bowel movement, Legaspi said.

Legaspi said any of the food or drinks being sold in the school canteen and stalls outside school could have caused the poisoning.

Among these are juice, halo-halo and fried chicken, said Legaspi.

Grade school

The sickened students were enrolled in Grades 1 to 6 in the school.

A few students from another school, Handumanan Elementary School 2, had been sickened, too, after they bought food also from the HES 1 canteen.

Cynthia Dimavivas, schools division superintendent, suspended classes in both schools until Monday.

HES 1 Principal Milagros Macayan ordered the canteen and food stalls outside the school to temporarily close as recommended by the city health office.

City health officer Dr. Grace Tan had taken food samples from food stalls, the canteen and ambulant vendors.